Top Rank Undercard for Pacquiao/Clottey- I can’t be the only one out here that thought the undercard was complete garbage. The Duddy/Medina fight to me was the only undercard fight that provided some action. Gomez/Castillo was a snoozer, Castillo’s best days are long gone. Diaz/Soto was just ok at best, I guess I have myself to blame for that one because I was expecting a real war to break out between Diaz and Soto. Maybe Top Rank’s way of thinking when they put this undercard together was that the viewers need to see a pleasent scene before the real storm arrives. The calm before the storm, and what a storm it was, I’ll touch on that storm later.
Malignaggi/Khan announced In London- Yesterday, Paulie Malignaggi and Amir Khan were in England to announce their clash that will take place on May 15 in New York. At the press conference, Khan who was joined by new promoter Oscar De La Hoya, made it known that he is looking forward to make Paulie pay for his comments toward Roach and his team. Paulie however, is also looking forward to making Khan pay the price for Khan coming over and trying to take a bite out of the Big Apple for his U.S. debut. My thoughts on this fight is that it is going to be a very good scrap. I feel that before and during the fight, Paulie will find ways to get under Khan’s skin. I can’t wait for this fight, I feel that Khan has improved alot since coming over to train with Roach, and Paulie has looked golden since now being trained by Sherif Younan. I am expecting high- speed chess at it’s finest.
Pavlik/Martinez also announced- Kelly Pavlik will now step up and face a real test in Sergio Martinez. Don’t get me wrong, Pavlik has faced some killers before in his past, but that past now seems so long long ago. On April 17 at Boardwalk Hall, Pavlik will now face a fighter who gave Paul Williams all he could handle in his last fight. Sergio Martinez is looking forward to put on a clinic on April 17. I feel that Pavlik will be way to eager to drop that boom on Martinez to announce to us all that he wants his spot back. I think that this fight will be a fun fight for all fans, throw a block of cheese in the ring and let’s get this cat and mouse fight started.
Pacquiao The Storm- Before the fight, I predicted a Pacquiao victory by UD. I got the pick down, so what made me pick that way in the first place? The very gun shy Clottey that showed up that we all saw last night was the reason why I did not go with the majority of the crowd that were predicting a Pacquiao win by KO. I felt that Clottey was going to do just what he did, tap the gas pedal then remove it then wait a while then tap it again. Clottey needs a Teddy Atlas in his corner, a trainer that is going to slap some fight into him and tell him that he can’t go out there and fight for him so guess what son? You have to dig deep and find that fighter in you and release him. Truth be told, I to may hide behind a shield knowing that once I bring the shield down that a killer storm would enter from every single angle. Before this fight, I felt that a very aggresive Pacquiao coming forward will feed right into Mayweather’s waiting hands. I no longer feel that way, after watching Pacquiao last night, I feel that Pacquiao brings a new improvement each time he now does battle. I now see this killer storm ripping through the rib cage as Mayweather goes into his shoulder roll, I also see the storm going around the guard to land bombs around the guard. Throwing 25-35 shots a round as Mayweather usually does, that kind of low work rate will not do the job. I may be jumping ahead of myself here and in the process I am disrespecting a true warrior in Shane Mosley. A very motivated Mosley can show up on May 1st and wreck all of the Pacquiao/Mayweather thoughts. A Mosley/Pacquiao war will be a clash of the titans type of event.
